Nothing Is As It Seems
by RabbitFangs0108
Summary: When Germany mysteriously vanishes, Italy will stop at nothing to find his friend. Even if the bad guy is his own brother...
1. Chapter 1

Unexpected Capture

The first thing he noticed was that his head hurt.

Germany groaned. The pain shot through his skull and occupied his thoughts. What did he hit his head on to cause this pain? Germany took one of his hands to grasp his head.

At least, he tried to. His hand didn't get that far before it wouldn't go any further before a rope-like material dug into his wrists. He couldn't move his legs, either. Analysis showed that, not only was Germany's head aching, but he was also tied at the arms and legs of a chair.

Germany's pale, blue eyes opened in a flash...only to see pitch darkness. He rotated his left shoulder and discovered that his sight had been cut off by a piece of fabric. Tied down? Head aching? Blindfolded?

The German nation cursed under his breath, yanking the ropes that restricted his arm movement in vain hope that they would slacken while thinking about any nation who would want to kidnap him. Russia was at the top of the list, along with a few others who may still hold a grudge.

No matter how many times he tried, the rope would not slacken. Germany had no choice but to quit his efforts for the moment. He sat back into the chair while trying to figure out where, exactly, he was being held at.

The dampness and chilly air suggested that Germany was currently underground. A basement, maybe? The air didn't smell as musty as most basements usually did, suggesting that whoever lived here cleaned the area once in a while and...Was that...? Germany sniffed the air again. _Ja,_ Germany thought, nodding his head.

Along with the normal basement air, Germany detected a stale but still noteable smell of tomato sauce. Either someone opened a jar of the suace in the past few days in this location, or a jar slipped out of someone's hold and shattered on the floor.

Germany's hidden eyes narrowed. His list of possible captors became shorter, yet he also added a name or two. _Now, _Germany thought, _which nations are obsessed with-_

He cut off his train of thought when his ears picked up the sound of an opening door followed shortly by the sound of a light switch turning on. Footsteps resonated in the basement, gradually getting louder as the person got closer to Germany until they came to a complete stop...right in from of Germany.

Germany braced himself, muscles tensing. Whoever his captor was, he or she was going to have a difficult time getting a reaction or any information from him!

A hand grabbed the blindfold and yanked the piece of cloth down. The sudden light made Germany wince. It also did nothing to help his headache.

Blinking, Germany turned his attention to glare at his captor...only to jolt in surprise. "_W-was zur __Hölle?"_

The person in front of him definitely was the last person Germany would've expected to kidnap him. However, his wide-eyed attention flickered from said person to the knife held in one hand, and then to his captor's hate-filled eyes. Germany's body became cold when his captor opened his mouth and spoke familiar words in a familiar tone.

"Ready for some fun, potato bastard?"


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N Oh, wow! Imagine my surprise when I get messages saying that my story's been put on someone's update list and another's favorites. And it's been REVIEWED. I'm just ecstatical about all this. I love you guys! :D_

_I do apologize for the long wait, but it's been WAY chaotic at school over here, and it won't calm down for another week. I also lost the notebook that contained this chapter in it, and it remained that way for two weeks. (It turned out to be in my locker...duh...)_

_So, I do hope that you enjoy this chapter, too. Thanks very much!_

Chapter 1: Like Every Other Morning

The morning sun gleamed through the window, a stream of sunlight shining directly into Italy's face. The warmth stirred him from his sleep, amber eyes lazily blinking. A yawn broke loose, and Italy sat up, rubbing the remaining sleep out of his eyes. A smile on his face, Italy greeted the new day with a "Ve~".

_What a wonderful day this will be!_ Italy thought, his custom smile on his face and his eyes closed off from the world. _First, I'll make fratello and I pasta for breakfast, then I'll go over to Germany's house and make pasta, then..._

Italy shuddered, a slight frown on his face. Brrrrr, was it cold! Italy turned his head to the left, seeing as how the other side of the bed was empty. "Hm? Oh! Is fratello up already?"

Usually Italy would've spent the night, sneaking into Germany's house and slipping into bed, but Italy didn't want his fratello to feel left out. So, instead, Italy crawled into bed with Romano (ignoring Romano's colorful language), just like they used to when they were younger.

_Well, better start getting the pasta ready!_ With another happy "Ve~", Italy leaped out of bed and went towards the stairs. "Fratello! Fratello!"

Italy didn't get a response from Romano, but he didn't mind. Instead, he continued on his journey, trying to decide what kind of pasta he should cook. He opted for good old spaghetti, since he hadn't had that dish for a whole two days.

Entering the kitchen, Italy ambushed the cabinets, searching for the necessary ingredients to make the dough (because store-bought spaghetti is just so gross) and got right down to making a flour-y mess. About halfway in finishing the meal, Italy heard a crashing noise followed shortly by a string of Italian curses.

"Ve~ Good morning, fratello!" Italy called out.

Still cursing, Romano entered the kitchen. "Why do you need to be so damn cheery?" he snapped, rubbing his head.

Italy frowned upon hearing Romano's statement. "Ve~ Did fratello have a bad night?"

"What do you think?" Romano growled, still rubbing his head. "Throughout the night I've had to put up with you stealing the covers as well as listening to the drip-drip-drip of that damn bathroom faucet!"

Italy cocked his head to the side. A revelation popped into his mind. "Oh! Is that why you woke up early? To fix the bathroom faucet?" Because he thought this, Italy rushed over to Romano and gave him a hug. "Ve~ That's so nice!"

Romano sputtered, trying to break out of Italy's iron grip. "Chigi! Let me go!" he demanded, face red. Itally (eventually) complied, and Romano composed himself. "Now, until I get that damn pipe fixed, you are not to go into that bathroom."

Italy nodded his head. "Okay, fratello!" Italy then tackled Romano again and gave him another bear hug. Romano sputtered again, and curses spewed out of his mouth.

Italy trusted Romano, because why would brothers lie? However, Italy should've remembered that he was just in that bathroom the other day, and no leaking faucets were in existence. Also, if Italy had been looking in the direction of the bathroom with the "leaky faucet", he might've noticed a bloody towel peaking slightly out of the door frame.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Oh, bejeezum. These last few weeks have been soooooo stressful! Almost every moment I've had to dedicate to the Business Professionals of America club, since all projects needed to be done before we left for district Saturday. Almost all of us passed on to state, so yay! :)_

_Anyways, I still want to thank you guys for all the attention given to this story. I actually finished this last night, but didn't actually finish typing it until today. So, without further ado, here you go._

Chapter 2: Family Time

"Will you be wearing your brown suit to the world meeting, fratello?"

Romano flinched. Well, shit. He completely forgot about the world meeting. He covered himself by scowling at the spaghetti and stabbing the meal with a fork. "Of course I'll be wearing the brown suit!" he snapped. "It's the only one that you didn't ruin yesterday!"

Italy, who had been staring without actually staring at Romano (_How the hell can he see where he's walking? _Romano thought), sagged his shoulders, curl drooping. "Ve~ I didn't mean to trip and spill lasagna in your suitcase!"

Romano muttered under his breath, shoving the spaghetti forkful into his mouth. How his brother managed to trip on a flat surface and why he decided to surprise Romano with a pan of lasanga still was a mystery.

After apologizing, Italy's warm smile returned. "Ve~ I can't wait to see everyone at the meeting. Especially my friends Japan and Germany~"

Upon hearing Germany's name, Romano scowled. "You spend too much time with that bastard."

Italy's smile stayed on his face. "But Germany is a great friend. I wish you'd get along with him."

Romano would've snarled at Italy for that remark, but something else grabbed his attention. Stiffening up, Romano gaze flickered from Italy to the bathroom door, where the bloody towel stuck out of the door frame.

Italy, clueless as to Romano's sudden discomfort, kept chatting on about the wonderfulness of Germany.

Romano sprang up from his seat. "Uh, I should continue fixing that faucet." Without waiting for a response, Romano left his brother in the kitchen and made a dash for the door without actually making a dash.

He opened the door and kicked the towel into the bathroom. Romano then turned around, closed the door, and locked it. "That was close," he told himself, throwing a look at the bloodied cloth laying crumpled on the floor.

A knocking sound resonated in the small space. "Ve~" a muffled voice spoke. "Fratello, is everything alright?"

Cursing to himself, Romano grabbed the towel and chucked it into the tub, pulling the curtain to close it. "What the hell do you want?" he yelled, volume raised to that he could be heard by Italy better.

"Ve~ You didn't finish your pasta."

"I'm not hungry, dammit!"

"But fratello _always_ finishes his pasta..."

"I need to fix this faucet, Italy!"

There was a pause on the other side. "Oh! You want to fix the faucet so that we can use the bathroom quicker?"

"Yeah, sure." Romano cracked the door open to reveal one (closed) eye of Italy. "Look, this faucet may take me all day. Why don't you go spend the day with someone? Someone who's _not _that potato bastard!" he added, seeing Italy' s excited face.

Italy sagged his shoulders, but only momentarily. "Ve~ I guess I'll see if Japan-"

"Good enough," Romano stated, slamming the door shut. He waited by the door, listening to Italy punch numbers into the phone before starting a conversation. Some movement in the other rooms, then Romano heard the click of the front door and knew that he was alone.

Deeming it alright, Romano moved away from the door and opened the curtain back up. "That was close," he said to himself again, eyeing the pile of bloodied towels and clothes.

Italy, Romano decided, usually spends too much time around the German nation. One thing Romano feared was that all the time Italy spent with Germany might eventually corrupt his little brother. The solution? Lock the German nation in the basement while "persuading" him to never see Italy ever again.

The plan was simple: nab, "persuade", drug when not present. So far everything was working for Romano. The only flaw he found was that he needed a place to store the items used, and the bathroom was the closest room to the basement that had a door, so…

Digging through the pile of clothes, Romano found what he spent minutes looking for. Pulling out the knife shining with blood, Romano never pictured the face that twitched with pain, the grunts that couldn't contain themselves, or the blue eyes that asked the silent question of _Why?_

Instead, all Romano saw was the light of Italy's smile, the comforting "Ve~"-s, and the happiness glowing out of amber eyes.

Tightening the grip he had on the knife, Romano kept the image of his younger brother in his mind. "I'm doing this for you, Italy," he murmured. "All for you…"


End file.
